| EcoTopTen – awareness campaign for sustainable, energy efficient products | |
| Brief Description | EcoTopTen is an initiative and public awareness campaign developed by the Oeko-Institut in 2005 which seeks to inform private home owners and the general public about the most ecologically sustainable products available on the market. The goal of this intervention was to streamline the availability of appliance and sustainability indicators based on what the public identified as critical information necessary to make smart purchasing choices with regards to energy efficient appliances. The initiative based its information off of existing energy standards in Germany, but combined them with market availability and pricing in the form of an innovative market survey available online to the German public. The presentation of economic information on the EcoTopTen products in the market survey is supplemented by information on “typical products on the market”. This way, consumers get the opportunity to compare the “real” costs of environmental sound EcoTopTen products with typical products. The main product of the intervention was the creation of the online platform, which between 2005 and 2007, the site covered 25 different product groups. The homepage of EcoTopTen got constant or growing numbers of visits over the two years of the campaign, reaching its first peak in January 2006 with 25.000 Visits and 500.000 hits. |
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| European Country/Countries | Germany |
| Field | Energy efficient housing: Energy saving behaviors |
| Type | Intervention |
| Impact | Health, Equity, Environmental sustainability |
| Status | Completed |
| Target Group | General population |
| Evaluation | No |
| Level | National |
| INHERIT Perspective | This program has been chosen for inclusion because its low cost of implementation, can be easily replicated, and high focus on individual behavioral change towards sustainability. The EcoTopTen program is egalitarian in that all eco-friendly consumer information is available to all private homeowners who wish to improve their environmental standards. This intervention is consumer friendly and involved its target audience to cater to their needs, improving usage outcomes. Providing the average consumer with tailored sustainability information allows users to become autonomous in their energy consumption and improves use of efficient and safe appliances. |
| Detailed description PDF filename | Download file |
| Relevant links | http://www.ecotopten.de/ |
| Contact | Dr. Dietlinde Quack Leiterin der Gruppe Konsum im Institutsbereich Produkte & Stoffströme Öko-Institut e.V. Geschäftsstelle Freiburg Telefon: +49 761 45295-248 E-Mail an Dr. Dietlinde Quack |
